Family by Choice
by Fenixy
Summary: "We've all done some bad things since it all went to hell. All have killed the dead, but only most have killed the living. Out of the bad, there are things worst. However, some good can come out of the worst. Making families out of strangers, that's a miracle. I never thought that I could have another family, but they took me in and I've never been more thankful"-Kendal Hadley(OC)
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: Warnings about language/racial things, detailed descriptions about gore and sexual things, and certain other things that might keep this story at a rated T level.**_

* * *

"Hey," Zach greeted as he walked up to the blonde Greene sister, "I was just about to come find you." Pressing his lips against hers softly, she smiled. "The council pulled back everyone on the coal crew from going on the run." He explained to her, "They're shorthanded right now, I figured I'd step up to help and go with 'em." He looked over her face. "I just wanted to see you before."

Beth smiled and replied, "Okay."

"Ya' you know, it's dangerous out there."

Beth giggled, "Yeah I know." Kissing him on the cheek before walking away.

"Okay are you going to say goodbye?" He asked, speaking to her back.

"Nope!" She replied simply.

Daryl, hearing the whole thing, walked back to the back of his truck. "Damn romance novel." He placed down his crate and looked up to see another body sliding across the wall of the pickup. The dark brown hair pulled into a loose braid and deep green eyes smiled when he saw her. "What?" He asked with no sudden change in his mood.

She shrugged. "Thought I come see how the set-up is going." She leaned forward against her hand as he pushed up the end of the trunk. A mischievous show of teeth in her smile made Daryl look away.

"You can't go Kenz." He ordered as he walked away to gather more crates. The olive skinned girl groaned and rolled her eyes as she followed him from the other side of the truck.

"Oh come _on_ , Daryl," She argued, "Just one run! You haven't let me go on one for weeks." She crossed her arms over her chest when Daryl turned around with a crate in his arms. He looked down at her and saw the frustration in her face. He licked his lips and tried hard not to smirk or anything at her. This woman, the one that only joined their group less than a month ago, had done a lot already for everyone. His main reason for forbidding her to go one runs, with a few others on the council's consent, is to let her rest and relax for a little while.

Walking around her, Daryl heard her groan again and he just tossed the last crate into the back of the truck. When he tried to walk up to his bike, he was stopped by her once again. Getting up on her toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and he hesitantly snaked an arm around her lower back. "Come back." She mumbled in his ear. He nodded, just like he always did when she saw him off. Once they released each other, Kendal stepped aside and let Daryl walk up to his bike and watched him drive off.

Kendal watched until everyone stopped and walked up to see what was going on. She saw two familiar bodies at the front of the line of vehicles and a smile spread across her face. Walking a little faster than normal, but carefully watching her step as she went down the hill, the brunette rushed to greet Michonne's return. She reached her friend just as the line started to move again.

"How was your trip this time?" Kendal asked the woman. Michonne shook her head and Kendal's smile faded. "Still nothing?" She couldn't help the sound of disappointment in her whisper.

"I'm sorry, Kenz," Michonne whispered, "But are you sure about keeping this a secret? Shouldn't you tell Daryl?" Kendal shook her head and Michonne exhaled through her nose.

"I'm sorry that I have to ask you to do this, Michonne," Kendal looked around as she whispered and walked with her friend, "but you know how Daryl won't even let me go on runs anymore, there is no way he, or anyone, would let me go looking for _him_." Kendal and Michonne scanned over each other's expressions before the katana-wielding woman nodded. They both smiled.

"You know, you and Daryl-"

"Will you stop with that?" Kendal chuckled, elbowing her friend.

"- are strangely perfect for each other." Michonne chuckled lightly looking down at her mixed friend. Kendal rolled her eyes again. "Once you stop denying it, the better the teasing will be."

"You know it's not like that," Kendal looked up at the black woman. "I work because I feel indebted to everyone. I do what I do to pay off debts." Pointing back at the gates, "Daryl saved my life, so I feel like I owe him." Michonne was obviously not buying it and the half-asian woman didn't seem to want to talk about it anymore. "So I heard that you are going back out right away," Kendal finally asked, "Want company?" With an angled looked from her friend, she knew the answer and raised her hands up in defense. "Can't blame a girl for trying."

Back inside the prison, Kendal walked around inside the halls. She held a knife firmly in her right hand and was careful with her steps. The area around the cell block was cleared, but no one every explored far enough to find holes or entrances for the walkers to roam in. She managed to walk all the way to the office room without running into trouble, but she still rushed to lock it behind her. Standing with the door pressed against her back for a moment to listen to the silence was comforting. Not a single footstep bothered the silence. Kendal couldn't remember the last time she enjoyed pure silence. Now, there was always some sort of noise around her; whether or not it was people chatting, walkers groaning, or the wind brushing the trees. She even held her breath to keep quiet.

The moment she exhales, Kendal took a step forward. Walking around the room often reminded her of her life before the mess started. It's strange how the prison office reminded her of her high school classroom whenever it was empty.

She searched the bookshelves for a small brown book. Opening it, she found articles of someone's thoughts and memories on the pages. They told stories of their days in the world, before and during prison. She found it a few days ago and started reading it from where she left off. Kendal couldn't remember the last night she held a pen or wrote something down on paper. She read the journal up to the page when he started talking about the outbreak and the riots. The pages seemed to run quickly through her mind as she quickly flipped through them, but stopped when she found a page covered with dried blood. Her chest tightened as her past started to flow back in her head like a movie screen. She dropped the book and kicked it across the floor.

Turning back to the door, she heard footsteps outside of it and froze. There was more than one thing moving outside, but she couldn't tell if it was a walker or people, or both. Sliding her knife out of the back of her pants, she held it readily before slowly turning the knob and swinging the door open. She drew back her knife and found a small skinny blonde girl looking up at her frightened. She looked around the hall and found no one else.

With a long exhale, Kendal lowered her knife and crouched down to be eye level. "Lizzie, what are you doing back here?" She asked calmly.

"I was playing with some friends," She explained, "But they just left."

"Well, next time you guys play," The woman rubbed her thumb across the pale girl's cheek to wipe away some dirt, "Stay closer to your cell block." Grabbing her shoulder, Kendal led her back to the cell block. "Isn't it storytime anyways?" Turning to look behind her, she could have sworn the rats on the ground weren't there before.

"Yes ma'am it is." Turning down another hall, they found the library. Opening the door, Kendal nodded to Carol.

"Keep watch on this one," The brunette chuckled, "She likes to sneak around." Rubbing the back of her messy braided hair, she gave the kid a light shove into the room before closing it behind her. Just as she was walking away, a boy names Patrick ran into her. "Hey, careful," She took him by the shoulders. He was sweating a little, but Kendal thought that it was from him running in the hallway. He mumbled 'Sorry' before slipping around her and into the library.

When she got back to her cell block, she found that supply run group had returned. Looking around at some of their faces, she could tell that something went wrong. She made eye contact with Glenn and he just shook his head. She then counted all that had went. Bob, Daryl, Glenn, Tyresse, Sasha, and another. "Wait…" She mumbled to herself as she looked over everyone again before covering her mouth with her palm. _Zach_ was missing.

Finding Daryl in the corner of her eye, she saw Beth come out of her cell and hug him. " _As long as she's okay._ " She thought to herself as she started walking to her own cell-room. Walking past the two of them, she heard her name called.

"Hey, Kenz," She turned and looked at the two looking at her, "Did you hear?" She nodded at Daryl and looked at Beth with worry in her eyes. Beth just nodded with a small smile and Kendal returned a smile.

"If you need anything," She said, "just ask."

"I will."

Then she kept walking until she found her cell. Setting her things down on the desk, she paused when she found a necklace on her desk. It was an old necklace that she got from someone outside of this group and she knew that she should have just thrown it away. But she couldn't.

Sliding it into one of the desk drawers, and placed it under some random objects that she had scavenged along the way. She closed the drawer and turned to lay down in her bed. Staring up at the bunk above her and let her eyes close on their own until she felt herself totally relax into her sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Kendal woke up to the echoing sounds of gunshots and people running around. Grabbing her weapons, she stuck her head out and looked around for the source of the noise. "Not in this block." She mumbled to herself as she followed the group outside.

"It's in Block D!" Sasha sounded at Rick. He asked about C, but they said that it was clear and Hershel was staying on guard. Hearing another gunshot outside, Kendal looked over to see a herd of walkers start to shake the fence. _"Shit!"_ She thought as she looked between the crowd of people running to Block D and to the fence. Taking in a deep breath and sliding her fishing spear from her back, Kendal sprinted as fast as her legs could carry her to the herd against the fence. "Carl! Michonne! Maggie!" She screamed down to them. Maggie and Carl were helping Michonne to the tower. Stopping in front of them, she panted, "What happened?"

Michonne looked up at her friend. "I heard the gunshots and I truned back around-"

"Some walkers got into the gate," Carl explained calmly, "But we took care of them." Kendal looked from the boy to the woman on the right. Maggie nodded and so did Kendal. Looking back over their shoulder, the long brunette licked her dry lips.

"Okay, take Michonne to safety, I'll try to clear the fence." Before anyone could figure out what she meant or could stop her, Kendal started running again, with her fishing spear held tightly in her hands.

Down by the fence, Kendal started stabbing thought the fence. She used quick and short movements, but the crowd just kept getting bigger and bigger. She was the only one. Again.

An image of a man's face flashed before her eyes and she had to step back.

 _"Help!" Kendal's voice rang in the air, "Help!" She was alone and on the ground with a walker clinging onto her feet. Kicking and scream only attracted more of them. Looking back at the man in the distance, she saw him shaking his head when she called him name. He shook his head and ran away. "HELP!"_

"Rick! Daryl!" Maggie's voice brought her back from her thoughts and she could see that her knuckles were white around her fishing spear. _"Damn it._ " Kendal thought as she started stabbing the undead in the eye sockets. Whenever she killed one, another one took its place. She didn't notice the concaving fence until she heard Maggie shouted about the fence giving. Daryl, Maggie, Rick and Glenn joined her with metal rods and piercing the walkers thought the falling fence.

Daryl looked over at the braided haired brunette and saw that she was mindlessly stabbing through the fence. Her eyes weren't on the zombies, but something else. The fence shook and everyone's grunts and the walkers' growls were starting to mix together.

"Are you seeing this?" Sasha shouted over the noise. The group looked over and saw half eaten rats on their side of the fence. Kendal had a small flash back to the hallway the other day, but wasn't able to understand the connections because of how quickly the fence was starting to fall. When stabbing wasn't enough to stop them, the group started to try and push the fence back. Kendal kept stabbing.

"Everybody back!" Daryl shouted, "Everyone back now!" The group stood back, and he had to pull Kendal off of the fence. She was panting harder than the rest of them and looked up at Daryl. "I said _back_!" He growled at her. Dropping the point of her spear and letting it hang by the noose around her wrist. She swallowed and nodded quickly. He saw her eyes come back to the way they were while she was blinking faster than her panting.

"Daryl get the truck," Rick finally spoke, "I know what to do." Daryl ran off while giving Kendal one last look. Unsure of what the look actually meant, Kendal just stood there and watched as Daryl brought around the truck and Rick loaded the truck with a box of the piglets. Maggie and Glenn opened the gate to let them out and closed it behind them. The fence kept tilting, but this time Kendal was hesitant to start back up again.

"Don't just stand there!" Sasha shouted at her. Holding her breath, the woman started poking through the fence with all of her strength. She stopped when the walkers turned their attention to the truck with Rick in the back. Everyone stood and watched as the first piglet was devoured, but then started to set thick, wooden pillars against the fence and forced it as straight as possible.

Once they returned, Kendal and the others had finished with as much support as they could do for the fence. "Hey." Rick walked up to her, but kept his distance, "Have you been around Patrick recently?" He asked her.

A little bit confused, Kendal nodded slowly. "I ran into him yesterday when he was going to the library for Storytime," She noticed the looks everyone gave each other, "Why? What's wrong?"

Rick looked back at her with restless eyes. "Patrick died last night from some sort of flu," Kendal felt as if her heart stopped, "and he attacked the people in Cell Block D." He explained.

"We are separating anyone that could have gotten infected into another Cell Block until we get the whole thing sorted out." Glenn explained, glancing a little over at Maggie.

"But I'm fine." Kendal held her stomach, "I don't feel queasy or feverish." She tried to explain. "Maybe the flu won't affect me." She looked at Rick with her dark green eyes. "I know you're just trying to keep it safe, but right now separating everyone that aren't showing symptoms might just make things worse."

The group didn't speak at first. "Kendal, we just need you to-"

"I'm not going anywhere until I-!" Then her words were caught in her throat and she started coughing and holding her stomach. The group took a step back and she shook her head. "It's… just a cough…" She said, trying to catch her breath. Daryl stomped forward and grabbed her firmly by the bicep. She tried to shake herself free, but he only tightened his grip.

"Stop fighting, you stubborn-ass woman." He growled as he dragged her away from the group.


	3. Chapter 3

The next few days were hard for everyone. People were put into the isolated because of some unknown sickness that has started to sweep over the prison. Twelve people died from it and two others were burned in cold blood. Kendal sat with her back pressed against a cell wall. Sweat pasted her hair to the back of her neck and her forehead. She had unbuttoned her shirt for a way to cool herself as much as possible, but it didn't help. Dr. S said that her fever was rising, not lowering. Trying to keep her breaths steady took most of her focus. She heard the door open and looked at the body moving by. She tried to call out to her, but her voice was too broken to be audible.

Sasha was calling for Dr. S over the moans and groans and coughing around the Cell Block. Kendal tried to keep her mouth shut when she coughed, but it got too painful to even try now. "Kendal, you need to lie down." A limping Dr. S peaked into her cell. She shook her head and didn't move. Her head was pounding and her ears were ringing. She closed her eyes and her body relaxed.

 _"Everything's gonna to be okay," Kendal spoke softly to the boy lying before her. His fever just wouldn't go down and they were running out of medicine. "I'll make another run in the morning," She brushed her hand over his sweaty face, "So you just rest up for me, kid." His mouth moved, but she couldn't hear the words he was saying. "You're going to be okay." She kept repeating as she held his frail hand and rubbed her thumb on the side of his cheek under his eye. The room was dark and the only light in the room was by candle light. The light danced on the young boy's face as the fire flickered until the light died and a groan was all that was left to hear._

Slowly opening her dark green eyes, her body ached and her head instantly started to feel like it was about to explode. She forced her body to move upward and onto her feet, leaning on against the wall for support until she gained her balance. She walked out of her cell and looked to the door. Kendal couldn't help but wonder what was going outside of those doors. Walking, more like limping, her way over to it she coughed in between her breaths. She made it to the door and found Tyresse and Daryl on the other side.

"Kendal?" Tyresse looked at her and she smiled weakly.

"Man," She sighed deeply, "It's good to see some healthy faces." She chuckled a little before coughing.

"You should be restin'. " Daryl's voice carried to the other side of the bolted door. He stayed behind the larger man.

"How is Sasha doing? Is she alright?" Ty asked the pale brunette as she leaned a shoulder on the door and nodded. Tyresse exhaled strongly.

"What happened to your face?" Kendal asked with tired eyes, "Did you run into a wall or something?" She joked with a weak teasing smile. Tyresse didn't seem to be in the mood for her jokes as he turned around and stormed away, leaving Daryl alone on the other side of the door. "I'll meet you outside." He growled lowly to the redneck. "Can't take a joke?" She sounded out of breath as she slid down the doorway. Daryl crouched down, as if he could have reached through the door to catch her, and looked at the side of her face. She tried to clear her throat without coughing, but she just looked as miserable as the rest of them inside the isolated cell block.

Kendal looked worse than when he put her in there. There were trails of sweat that led to the collar of her button-down shirt. He could see that the rest of her body under the shirt was just as covered in sweat from opening at her torso. Her bra was soaked and he could see that she was struggling to breathe as her breasts raised and receded unevenly. "You should to lie down." He said to her through the glass. Daryl had seen this woman outside of the fences, she was strong. This was the first time he had seen her look weak or fragile to the touch.

"Ya'know," She mumbled, taking him out of his thoughts and bringing his eyes upward, "This remin's me of the day my whole world turned around." Her eyes looked like they were in a daze. She looked up at him, but she wasn't looking _at_ _him_ , "Did I tell you that I had a younger brother?" Daryl nodded. She looked away and coughed some more. "Did I tell you how he died?" She said to the ground.

"No," Daryl kept his rough voice down, "but you can tell me later. After I get your meds." Daryl could see that she was exhausted and her eyes were getting heavy. "Hey." He banged on the glass next to her face and startled her to keep his eyes opened. "You stay alive," He pointed at her, pressing his index finger on the glass so hard Kendal could see his fingerprint, "and I'll let you keep tellin' me about yer lil brother." He looked her directly in the eyes and she nodded. She slowly held up her hand and pointed up her pinky and pressed it weakly against the glass.

"Pinky promise?" Daryl could have sworn that this grown-ass woman was just as childish as the kids in quarantine right now. Nonetheless, he held up his pinky and pressed it against the glass where hers was. He saw her smile as she closed her eyes. Standing up, Daryl started banging on the door and made eye contact with Dr. S. He pointed down to the unconscious woman at his feet and the doctor came wobbling over with Sasha by his side.

" _I'll be back._ " He thought to himself as he left and headed out of the gates of the prison with Michonne, Tyresse, and Bob.


	4. Chapter 4

When Kendal woke up next, Hershel was by her side. Now lying in bed, she had to roll over on her side to cough off the edge to the ground. Opening her eyes, she saw small specks of blood on the ground. _"I'm going to die?"_ A small voice echoed in her head, but it wasn't hers.

"You're goin' to be alright," the old man assured her, as if he read her thoughts, "Daryl and the other will bring back the medicines we need to fight this." He helped her turn back on her back and she groaned at the soreness of her body. "You're goin' to be alright." He repeated.

Kendal couldn't speak because her throat had ran dry. She felt herself wanting to slip, but told herself not to. He couldn't afford to go like this. "Hershel." The old man had stood up and stopped at her cell entrance. Sitting up and pulling on the bunk above her to get up and support herself. "I need to help." She mumbled, "I need to keep moving or I'll-"

"Alright." He stopped her, grabbing Kendal by the arm and helped her wobble out of her cell-room. "Alright…" He said softly setting her against the wall. He left her to follow the wall down the cell block. The brunette kept walking and limping until she heard high-pitched coughs from a room. Turning the corner, she found Lizzie curled up on a bed. Turning the corner, she fell to her knees next to the bed. The noise startled the girl as she turned her head to look up at the woman.

"Hey there Lizzie." Kendal smiled, brushing her hand over her head. She could hear the girl's raspy breath and her coughs were painful. Sweat caked her pale skin and the woman just wiped her forehead with her thumb. "You know that we'll be okay, right?"

Lizzie coughed in between her words. "How… do you… know?" She asked. Kendal could tell that she was scared; she'd seen those eyes before. She was small and fragile and this flu could kill her, just like it had killed him.

"I don't." She mumbled truthfully. "There is a chance that you might die, that I might die," Kendal kept stroking the young girl's hair, "everyone here will die eventually." Her words sounded like a promise, but Kendal still smiled through the hard truth. "But whether or not it is now, or much later, that's up to you." The girl's eyes softened as Kendal looked into them. "You have to keep fighting to survive in this world now, Lizzie, you have to be str-"

"I am strong." She pushed herself onto her elbows, "I know I am." She coughed roughly and Kendal reached around to rub her back as she cleared her lungs. She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up next to the crouching woman.

"Yes you are." Kendal smiled and pushed and pulled herself to her feet. The sound of wheel brought the two females out of the cell-room.

"What are you doing?" Lizzie asked. Glenn and Hershel looked back at them as Lizzie took some steps forwards. The brunette woman looked at Glenn then to the stretcher next to him. She mouthed him a few words and he nodded. She inhaled and nodded back.

Once he was done telling Lizzie her job, Hershel looked up at Kendal. "And your job is to watch over things while I'm moving Mr. Johnson." His eyes were firm and she knew what he meant. She nodded and tried to hold back her coughs with a closed mouth as she turned Lizzie by the shoulders and led her to the doctor's office.

For the next few hours, Kendal and Lizzie read Tom Sawyer together in a cell with their backs against the wall. The woman's eyes kept closing, but stayed closed for longer periods of time. "You can rest, ma'am." Lizzie's voice perked the woman's head up, causing her to get slightly dizzy. Lizzie looked up at her blood shot eyes and smiled, "You can rest. I'll keep reading, I promise." Kendal nodded, unable to resist how exhausted she was. Letting go of Lizzie and unwrapping her arm from around her and pulled herself up once again.

Outside of the cell, Kendal saw Hershel and Sasha loading another body on a gurney. She stumbled over and leaned herself next to the old man. "I-I'm going to go lie down," she mumbled softly for only the two to hear, "One of you should come close my cell." She looked at Hershel and then to Sasha. They nodded. Hershel looked at Sasha and she started to walk around and the two women leaned on each other as they moved to Kendal's cell. "T-Tell Daryl that I won't be able to," She coughed, "tell him about Derek." Kendal fell backwards onto her bed and toppled over sideways, unable to move enough to bring her legs to the bed. Sasha heaved her legs up on the bed and rolled her on her back.

"You tell him yourself." Sasha said to her in a firm, but weak sounded whisper. Then Sasha turned around and closed her cell behind her. Kendal closed her eyes, thinking that she may never open them again.

On the way back to the prison, Michonne drove with Daryl in the passenger seat and the other two in the back seat. The drive was silent and it was getting dark outside. "Should we stop to rest?" Michonne asked the man next to her.

"If you want to rest," He mumbled, "I can drive the rest of the way." That wasn't what she meant, but she just kept driving in silence for a little while longer. Whenever she looked over at him, he was either staring at the jade stone or the street ahead of them. After the time they had together, it was still hard to tell what the man was thinking.

"Are you worried?" She asked. Daryl shook his head slightly.

"No." He answered simply. He stopped playing with the stone and just looked ahead of them. Michonne shook her head and looked back to the road.

"You don't have to pretend to be a tough guy, you know." She pestered him and he just scoffed.

"I'm not pretending." He grumbled. "Just stop talking, I liked the quiet."

"Are you worried about Kendal?" Michonne's question made Daryl look around at her, "Did you talk to her before we left?" He didn't answer and she took it as a 'yes'. "She's a fighter, she'll make it." Michonne assured him. Daryl grumbled a little bit, but he knew.

It was him that found Kendal before bringing her to the prison. He found her with a walker clinging to her ankle; alone but still fighting. He knew that is wasn't just her that would still be fighting when they got back. Their whole group were made of fighters and survivors. "She said that she will tell me about her lil' brother." He mentioned when they reached the gates of the prison. Michonne didn't say anything, but she didn't know that Kendal had a little brother.

When Rick let them in, Tyresse got out of the car and asked about Sasha. Daryl told him to go on ahead to give them the medicine and check up on them while they dealt with the horde that got through the fence.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning after the sun came up, Daryl walked into the quarantined block and opened up a cell. A resting body laid on the bed. He stood their silently to see if he could hear her breathing; he didn't hear anything, but he could see her chest rising. He walked over and kneed the bed. "Hey Kenz." No response. He kneed it again, but still nothing. He leaned over, put his hands on the frame of the bunkbed and shook the whole thing. "HEY!" He shouted and the woman sat right up looking around on her elbows. She froze when she looked up at him and groaned.

"What the hell was that?" She hissed as she laid back down, "Don' you know how to wake up a sick person?" She pressed her forearm over her eyes and dragged her hand down the side of her face. She was groggy, but she felt a whole lot better after the medicine she got just twenty-four hours ago.

"You ain't sick anymore," He spat down at her, "you're recoverin'." He pulled up the chair from her desk and sat in it. He leaned over on his knees and looked down at the brunette woman closing her eyes again. "Hey." He flicked her cheek, "I said you ain't sick. So stop actin' like it."

Kendal held her cheek and looked at him confused. "Are you a child?" She hissed at him. Daryl stood up and knocked the chair down from behind him. Waving at the woman while he shouted.

"I ain't, but you are!" His outburst confused the woman in bed, "You and you're dumbass _pinky promise_." He looked down at the woman and saw the confused look on her face. "You do remember what you said to me right?" He leaned forward, his arms hanging from the top bunch and Kendal leaned away.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Her statement made Daryl back up. "I don't recall making a _pinky promise_ , Daryl, let alone speaking to you after I was put in here." Her eyebrows furrowed and leaned forward. "Are you alright?" She reached up to feel his forehead. When she made contact with his skin, they both froze.

"You don't remember talkin' about your lil brother?" He asked as her hand traced down his face and she drew it back against her chest. While out on her first supply run as a member of this group, she told him about her life before all of this. She tried to get him to talk about his life, but she always stopped whenever he had enough of her pestering. Finally, she stopped asking all together and she stopped talking about herself at all.

The last few nights were blurry to her, but Kendal nodded. "I think," She looked up at him slowly, "I remember talking to you now." Her green eyes looked up at his blue-green eyes. For a moment, Daryl might have felt something, but he just looked away and walked out before something else could have happened. _"Damn it!_ " Kendal beat at herself. _"Why does that always happen?_ " All she wanted to tell, but the words couldn't come out. She sighed in disappointment and laid back in her bed and closed her eyes.

The prison shook and woke up Kendal again. "Damn it…" She hissed, running out of the cell block, running into walls as soon as her legs needed to stop or turn corners. "Can't a girl get some sleep?!" She mumbled to herself as she limped through the halls to the exit to the prison yard where the others already were. She had ran to her cell to grab her weapons she left inside and came out with her fishing spear strapped to her back and a rifle in her arms. She rushed up behind the rest of them. "What's going on? Why did the prison shake?"

They all looked at her like she was crazy. "Kendal what are you doing here?" Rick asked, waving his hand to the prison, "Go back inside. It's not safe out here."

"Get the hell back inside Kenz," Daryl hissed at her and waved her away, "You ain't well enough to be out here."

"I'm fine!" She knew she wasn't fully recovered, but she was tired of her cell and isolation. All she wanted to do was get outside and _do something_. Whether or not this was the right call, might not have the same effect. Kendal couldn't see around the corner, but she could hear a voice of a man. "Who's that?" She asked. No answered her as Rick shouted down to the man. They seemed to know him as he started to threaten them. The man pulled out Hershel and Michonne and threatened them with the katana.

"I don't make decisions anymore!" Rick kept shouting as the crowd behind him kept silent. A man and a woman stood on either side of the two captures. Kendal had to resist the urge to scream profanities at the man at the top of the tank. _"Who the_ hell _is this guy?_ " She wanted to ask again, but knew that she wasn't going to get an answer.

"Come down here, Rick," Called the man again, "Let's have that talk."

"What talk?" Kendal questioned. She was hushed again, but wasn't going to keep quiet. "Someone tell me what's going on or so help me-"

Maggie turned to her and stepped really close to keep her voice from shouting. "That man down there," she jabbed her fingers towards the people outside of the fences, "he's what some people call the _Govenor_ , and-and he isn't a good person, alright." The younger woman spat at her. "He had my dad down there, holding him hostage so right now isn't a good time to explain everything." Kendal just nodded quickly at the angry woman. Glenn pulled back on his wife's arm as Kendal looked away in guilt.

"Sorry." She mumbled, but go no recognition for it. She looked up to see both of the Greene sisters pressed against the fence with concerned looks on their faces. Kendal may not know what the situation between the group and the man with the tank is, but right now that didn't matter. She saw Rick and Daryl exchange faint nods and Rick whispered something to his son before walking out towards the man.

Watching Rick walk down there seemed to make everyone on edge. No one could sit still. Daryl started to mumble questions and orders about heading to the woods behind them because they didn't have the numbers to fight anymore. He was right. The flu took out almost everyone that got it, and Sasha and Kendal still weren't fully recovered from it. Tyresse, Sasha, and Daryl dispersed and started to talk to everyone around. Daryl approached the confused woman and lowered his head to her level as she looked at to Rick.

"Hey," She turned her head to him, "Are you feeling alright?" Kendal nodded, not speaking as she looked back over the farmer in the distance.

"Is he going to be alright?" Kendal asked. After joining the group, Kendal had only seen Rick take care of pigs, horses, and crops. She still didn't know the people in the group well enough _not_ to worry about everyone's safety. She felt a hand take her jaw firmly and turn her head to face the rough looking man in the eyes.

"He's going to be fine," Daryl insured, "You've haven' been around long enough to start worryin' about anybody." He said to her, looking in her eyes for some assurance that she agreed. She nodded and he dropped his hand. He nodded to the prison, "If things go south, head straight for the bus." He told her, looking around. "You do know when-"

"I know what _bad_ looks like." She snapped at him, her eyes looking sharply up at him. He nodded and turned to walk away. She turned back to watch Rick speak to the _Governor_ until she felt some pressure on her rear. Turning her head, she saw Daryl passing around guns behind people's back. Kendal took it without looking. The sound of gun shots made the long brunette flinch and grip on to her rifle tightly. The shots came from the Governor shooting down walkers as they passed him and his crew.

"We need to end this now." Carl said, pointing his gun through the fence next to Daryl.

"Your dad's got this." Daryl assured him.

"They're talking," Carl sounded impatient, "I could kill the Governor right now and end this." The tone didn't belong to a boy, it belonged to someone who just wanted it over with.

"Yeah," Daryl agreed, "or you could start something else."

"Killing the Governor won't assure that his crew would just walk away," Kendal mumbled in the distance. She didn't notice the two looking over at her as she stood straight with her gun handing from her hand at her waist. "They might shoot at us instead, and that'll only put us in much graver danger." She looked directly at the boy in the sheriff's hat and he just pierced his lips and looked back down his gun without another word. "Trust him." She said, looking back at the men talking. _"Trust him."_ She told herself again.


	6. Chapter 6

"The longer you wait," Said the Governor, "The hard it will be for you to get out of here."

 _"We can't leave,"_ Kendal mentally said to him and Rick, _"We can't because there is a chance we can't survive outside of these walls."_ She gripped her rifle tightly, holding up at her waist. She hoped that she wouldn't have to use it. She hoped that _no one_ would have to use theirs.

"We can all-" Rick started but paused, trying to collect himself, "We can all live together. There's enough room for all of us." He said up to the eyepatch man He kept trying to negotiate, but the Governor just kept shooting everything down. It was obvious that the Governor didn't like Rick, and Kendal didn't understand why. The group had a past with this man, a past that she didn't know about. Over a month has pasted and this was the first time she had laid eyes on the guy and his tank, and it was obvious that the grudge he had was too strong to be negotiated with about anything.

 _"He won't stop until we are dead."_ Kendal thought to herself. Looking around the group, she saw friends that she grew closer with in the last month. Faces that she couldn't see be erased from her life. The mood, however, changed quickly when everyone started to press more towards the fences than before. Kendal looked over and saw the Governor holding the katana up to the old man's neck and she pointed her rifle through the fence and pointed it at his head. The sobs of Beth Greene rang in her ears as the girl cried next to her. _"This bastard won't leave here alive,"_ Kendal growled in her head, _"He can't be that stupid to think he'll get away with this."_

"This this what _any of you_ want?!" Rick shouted at the fences.

"What we want, is what you got." A man from the top of the tank in a hat called back. Looking at the faces through the eyepiece, Kendal could see a little bit of what the expressions are on the people. Most of them didn't look worried, probably thinking that the tank is all there is to protect them, but some of them did look worried. Some knew this wasn't right but just didn't want to say anything.

"Those spineless pieces of-"

"Shh!" Someone hushed her mumbling. Very little people budged when Rick suggested that they join the group. He kept telling them the successes the group had made, because of the group has stayed together. That the only way to survive out there is with someone else. As he spoke, they could see the Governor pulling away the katana from Hershel's neck with his eyes on Rick. For a second, Kendal believe that his words would reach their attackers.

But the next few seconds didn't feel real. They felt too slow but too sudden to be real. No one could act in time because of the impulsive act. Everything seemed to be fine when Rick was talking, but when he stopped the chaos began. That was when everything just fell apart.

The Governor quickly drew back the katana and sliced Hershel's neck in half. Maggie and Beth cried out instantly, but Kendal just stared through the eyepiece of her rifle in complete shock. The gunfire already started to fill the air and the moment of silence was gone. The gunfire and the shouting drowned out any thoughts that Kendal could've had as she started firing at the crowd below them and they fired back.

They started charging the tank over the fences and with the cars. They stayed behind the last fence and fired at the uncovered group as they made their way up the hill. The cannon fired, blowing up the walls of the prison and people inside. Kendal kept shooting and shooting and shooting and before she realized it she had already killed maybe two people. _"Not going to die."_ She promised herself over and over again as she switched guns to the other rifle she grabbed and kept shooting. _"I can't die here. I won't."_ She said as she started making her way over near Tyresse by the firewood. "We have to get moving!" She shouted over the gunfire.

"No!" The black man shouted back, "Not yet!" The men behind the tank started shooting at them and they fired back. Kendal ducked and fired her rifle until she felt a hand take her by the arm and pull her away. Tyresse led them to some cover for some moments to breath. "Have…" He asked between pants," Have you seen… Sasha?" Kendal shook her head.

"Not ever since the shootout started." Kendal took some breaths before asking, "Have you seen Daryl?" It was his turn to shook his head. He had a worried look on his face, so Kendal placed a hand on his shoulder. "Those two are tough, tougher than most out here," She said to him while looking him directly in the eyes, "They'll be fine." She believed her words to an extent. Holding her gun upright, she leaned around the corner to shoot at some of their attackers. Tyresse saw something move in the corner of his eyes and decided to follow it. Kendal didn't notice his movement until he was already gone. "Damn it." She hissed at herself as she continued to fire. Turning around, she spotted the little girls as the older one, Lizzie, shot a woman in the head. Her eyes widened as she shot a few more times before sprinting to the girls to check them.

"H-Hey you two," her voice shook as her heart raced in a panic, "A-Are ya'll alright?" Lizzie and her sister nodded as she pressed a hand on each of their faces. They nodded as they looked up at Tyresse behind her.

"We gotta get out of here!" He called to them. Kendal looked up at him just as the girl started to run in the opposite direction. "Hey!" Tyresse shouted at them, trying to get out of the greens quickly, "We go that way!" He ran after them. Kendal was about to run in a different direction but was cut off by people shooting at her and kicking the thigh of her left leg. Gritting her teeth, she turned and ran away from the man and the little girls.

Running around the area on her own, Kendal was just looking for someone to group up with. _"I can't be alone…"_ Her mind was in just as much chaos as the prison, _"I-I can't survive on my own!"_

"Carl!" She heard Rick's broken voice. "Carl!" He called for his son over and over again and she used his voice to track and find him. She stopped when she heard walkers and gunfire. She spotted his son before she saw him. The two embraced and Kendal ran up behind them. "Kendal?" Rick didn't look good. Half of his face was swollen and all of it was battered and covered in blood. Carl took one arm and Kendal took the other to support the man. "Judith?" His voice was weak and both of them shook their heads. In the distance, they saw Judith's carrier and stumbled their way over to find it empty.

The father and his son cried and Kendal just gripped onto them tightly. She spotted the walkers around them. Leaning forward to look at both of them. When Rick didn't look her in the face, she placed a hand on the cheek opposite of her and held it where she could look into his eyes. "We have to go." He shook his head, tears streaming from his blue, blood shot eyes. She looked at his defeated posture then to his son. "We have to go." She annunciated each word strongly and the boy nodded. Turning his head to the sound of a walker, he quickly release his father, pushing his weight onto the filthy woman, and cocked his shot gun to shoot the undead man in the head. He shot it multiple of times before his father broke away from the woman's arms to hold his son, shouting his name.

They both were now sobbing out loud, holding each other. The sight broke Kendal's heart, but she couldn't shed a tear. Holding up her rifle, she shot at many of the walkers that tried to disturb the two crying. Walking over and pulling and pushing on them, Kendal whispered softly, but a little bit more demanding than before. "We have to _go_." She forced them to move with Rick supported by both her and Carl.

"It's over…" Rick mumbled with his sobs. Kendal swallowed as she limped away with them. _"We don't even have time to mourn."_ She thought to herself. She had just watched many of the people she grew comfortable with die in the last few days. The physical pain in her thigh and chest was nothing compared to how the two boys felt emotionally, not knowing if Judith was alive or not, she told herself. With that thought in mind, she forced herself to walk normally without a limp. She wanted to tell them that she knew what they were going through, but nothing came out. Just the thought made her throat dry and her hands shaky.

Walking into the forest, Kendal stopped and looked back over her shoulder at the broken haven behind them. _"I hope they made it out."_ "Don't look back," Rick told the two of them, as Carl was looking back too. "Just keep walkin'." He mumbled. Kendal wanted to look away, but she couldn't. The smoke from the tank was still black and faded into the sky. She felt so save inside of those walls, and to have them just broken down in one afternoon and in a few hours, that's when she knew. That's when she realized: _"Safety is a fragile thing."_

Within the next few hours, they had already walked several miles away from the battlefield and Kendal was the only one supporting Rick now. Carl walked quickly and steadily ahead of them. The two of them struggled to keep up. "Carl! Slow down!" Rick shouted to his son. He didn't listen. "Carl, stop!" Rick tore away from Kendal and quickly wobbled his way forward to grab Carl by the arm. "We need to stay together." He stated, "Find food and shelter, supplies." The man was wheezing more now. Placing a head on the young boy's shoulder, "Hey, we're gonna be-" He was cut off by a loathing glare from his son.

Dropping his hand, Kendal was quick to get under his arm again. "You, need to stay close to me." She said to the older man then looking to the young boy as he started storming off again, "And you!" He stopped and turned to her, "You shouldn't look at him like that." She said to him softly, but with authority. He didn't say anything to her as he turned away and started walking. She urged Rick forward when she heard him mumble, "Sorry," and she wasn't sure if it was direct at her or to Carl. "He's just in a tough stop right now." She said to the injured man. "He's just…He just needs some time." Kendal spoke softly and tried to assure to him that everything will be okay in the end. However, Rick was also in a bad place and very little things seem to be able to change that.

After about an hour, they made it to a road and followed it to a small building with abandoned motorcycles outside. The boys held their pistols when they approached to door and Kendal stayed back and had a hand at the bottom of her fishing spear. Carl stood in front and Rick leaned against the wall as he opened it. "Wait outside, okay?" He said to his son. He looked up at Kendal and she nodded, stepping in front of Carl.

"You keep watch," Carl barked in a whisper at his father around the brunette, "You can barely stand. I'm not going to let you go in there alone."

"Excuse me?"

"We've done this before," He clarified, "I'm going to help you clear it." He said to him, stepping up in front of Kendal. "You should just let me do this myself. "Kendal cleared her throat and grabbed Carl by the arm and pull him behind her. He stumbled, almost dropping his gun. "What the hell-"

"I'm going in." Kendal snapped at the boy with a narrow glare and her jaw tightened. She looked back at the ex-sheriff and held out her hand. He shook his head, but she didn't give him a choice and took his gun. "If you hear me call for help or if I'm not out in the next few minutes," She turned to Carl, "Take your dad out of here." Carl looked up at the strange woman with the same spiteful glare he gave his father earlier. She pointed her finger down at him, "And if you don' lose that attitude by the time I get back, your dad won' be the only one bleeding." She threated and she saw him swallow. She turned to his father and he had a ghastly look on his face, but she just winked. "Now both of you stay watch." She said as she leaned forward and slowly turned the knob and jerked the door open.

Walking in there was a bar and no lights. Kendal pointed the gun as she made her way around the bar. Looking in every door to see if it's clear. "Bar and kitchen's clear." She said just loud enough to reach the door, "Come on in." She heard the footsteps behind her as she walked into another room where all the stools and chairs were piled and a groan came from behind it. She walked forward slowly. She matched her footsteps with the ones from behind the pile until a walker came out of the shadows.

"That might be all that's left." Rick said, pointing to the bar behind the pile and the walker. Kendal held out the pistol that she took from Rick and someone took it. She slid off her fishing spear from her back and held it above her head. She walked closer to the pile and waited. Just when the walker touched a leg of a stool, she pressed the end of her spear into its eye and yanking it out to watch it collapse. "Let's get what we can find." Rick ordered. Kendal nodded and started to unstack the stools carefully. She dropped her spear so that she could use both hands to move more than one at a time.

Distracted, she didn't know that there was another one in the back. It stumbled forward and Kendal fell back. Stumbling to find her weapon, she started to panic when it started to come down on her. A gun shot rang and she held her breath when the limp corpse fell on top of her. " _Gross._ " She looked up and saw Carl holding up his pistol. Rick quickly stumbled over and yanked it out of his hands.

"What are you doing?!" Carl vexed at his father.

Rick pointed the butt of the handle at the corpse that Kendal shoved off of her. "You didn't need to shoot."

"But Kendal was-"

"Every bullet counts, Carl," He lectured, "Something that you need to be taught." Stumbling over, Rick handed Kendal her spear. "Are you alright?" She nodded and stood. Taking her spear, she looked down at Carl as she wiped the end of it on her pants.

"Don't waste bullets." She repeated as she walked back to the bar and started to gather things.

After gathering supplies and food, Kendal went back to being Rick's crutch and they both were stumbling to keep up with his son. She carried the bag with the goods and the tension between the three of them was thicker than before. "Hey." Rick called out to his son, "Hey." Carl ignored him. They stopped in front of a house. "Hey." Carl turned to his father and the brunette woman as they finally were able to catch up. Looking at the white house, Rick said that they should go inside and rest for a little while. Kendal agreed and took him to the door. She let go on him and rested him against the wall. "I'm goin' in." He shook his head at her and stood with his pistol, "You're not leaving me out here either." Carl said standing closer to Kendal. She nodded and swung the door open and stepped in. Taking a few steps around the corner, Rick shut the door behind them. Kendal started to make her way up the stairs. Once at the top, she could hear the father and son banter as she examined the second floor.

"Hey, asshole!" Carl shouted as he banged against the wall, "Hey, shitface! Hey-"

"Watch your mouth!" Rick barked at his son.

Kendal rolled her eyes upstairs, "Just your average, nice, happy family…" She groaned sarcastically as she kept her thought to herself. She acted like she didn't hear anything when Carl came up stairs. "How's the downstairs?" She asked him. He almost ignored her, she could tell, until she poked him with the butt of her stick.

"Clear." He said plainly, looking up at her distastefully.

"Then the whole house is clear." She said, but he just kept searching. She shook her head and started to walked when she heard him say.

"Back at the diner, I didn't need your help." She didn't turn around, "I don't need your protection. I can take care of myself." Taking a deep, controlled breath, Kendal quickly made her way down the stairs to check up on Rick's wounds. " _You just keep telling yourself that, kid."_ She said to herself when she found Rick.

* * *

 _ **Author's note: This chapter was much longer than the others because I know that I will be gone for almost a week. I also hoped ya'll had a great Christmas and have a Happy New Year!**_


	7. Chapter 7

When the night came, the tension between Rick and Carl only got worst. Rick cleaned up and Carl ate. Kendal walked into the room and Carl held up the bag of chips to her. She accepted a chip and threw it into her mouth. She sat down next to him in silence. No one spoke for a few minutes.

"Carl," Kendal whispered. He didn't look at her and she didn't look at him, "Back at the diner, I wasn't just protecting _you_." She emphasized for him. She didn't look when she felt his eyes start to look up at her. "I was looking out for your father too." She turned to him finally, her eyes hidden in the shadows but Carl could feel them narrowing at him. "He needs more protection than you, you know that right?" Carl looked away, unable to keep looking at her.

"Maybe if he wasn't so-"

"So _what_? Huh?" She interrupted him, "SO caring for you? SO protective of you? SO-"

"Weak." Carl stopped her. Kendal hesitated by his tone. She grabbed him by the arm tightly and he tried to shake her off.

"He is your _father_ , you little _brat_." She snapped at him, "And right now, he doesn't deserve any of your _bullshit_ attitude." He tugged his arm out of her hands he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You don't know anything…"

"I know what it's like to live without a father." She hissed at him. He looked at her and this time she leaned in so that he could see her dark green eyes lit by the moonlight. Anger covered them and he could tell that she wasn't joking around anymore. "And believe me," She stood up to walk away, "You _don't_ want to know how that feels."

The next morning when Kendal woke up to Carl shouting "wake up!" and rushed down stairs when she heard banging against the door. She found Rick sleeping soundly on the couch, but no Carl. The thumping stopped and the growls of the walkers outside slowly disappeared. She pressed herself against the window and saw the teenaged boy walking away with the undead. _"What the hell?!"_ She growled mentally as she ran around the back with her fishing spear. Stopping at the side of the road and looking both ways many times until she noticed Carl in the distance. _"What the_ hell _is he trying to prove?"_ She tightened her grip around her rod and sprinted down the street.

Come on," Carl said to the walkers, "Keep your eyes on me." With the two walkers in front on his, he backed up to a dead end and a third walked limped up behind him. It grabbed him and he kicked it away, falling to the group. When the undead woman dropped to her knees, he shot his pistol. He shot at the next one and both of them now laid on top of him and left him unable to move. He pointed his gun at the next one, but a spearhead pierced through its head and was pulled back. When the walked fell, he saw that Kendal was on the other side of the spearhead.

She was panting and wiped the bloody end on the back of the corpse under her. "Didn't we say… no to waste bullets." Carl struggled to get the walkers off of him, so the woman walked over and pulled each one off with most of her strength. When he slipped out, he was breathing hard and leaned over to vomit at his feet. Looking over at the pile of corpses, he said something that made Kendal's stomach turn.

"I win."

Storming over to him, Kendal grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him out to the street. She threw him on the ground on his back. "Hey!" He looked up at her with exasperation, "What do you think your-"

"You think this is a game?!" She snapped at him. "You think your dad would approve of this?!" She pointed back to the pile of dead-undead. Carl tried to stand up and say something, but Kendal just pushed him back down. "What if you were bitten? Huh? What if you turned?" She pointed down the street where their house was, "How do you think your dad would react?!"

Finally, Carl stood to face her. "Why do you even care? What do you want from me?!" His voice got louder. He took a step forward and Kendal took a step back. "You don't even know us! You just came into the camp because you were _saved_! I've been fighting since day one!" He vexed up at her. "You think you're tough? That you're strong?" Kendal looked around and noticed a few walkers coming out of the trees. "I've had to do a whole lot of tougher things than you have I bet!"

"Carl-"

"You talk about my attitude? You have no _right_ to talk to me like you're my mother!" He just kept shouting over her. "My mother is _dead_ because of-" She pressed her palm against his mouth and looked straight into his eyes and turned his head to look at the three walkers heading their way. He slowly started to raise his gun, and Kendal reached out and took the weapon from him. He mumbled against her hand in protest as she turned and pushed him to run in the other direction towards their shelter.

Returning to the house, the two didn't talk as both of them went to check up on the unconscious Rick. "I killed two walkers, Kendal got one too." Carl said to his father. "They were at the door, so I lured them away." _"Which was stupid."_ Kendal said to herself as she dabbed at the sweat and blood on the older man's face. "I killed them." He said to him, "I _saved you_." He continued. Kendal got up and walked to the kitchen and poured herself a bowl of cereal. She could still hear the young boy speaking to his father in the living room. He went on and on about how he saved him, how he still knew how to survive even after 'playing farmer' at the prison, and how he didn't need him anymore. He started listing all of the people that were at the prison as people he couldn't protect. "-or _mom_." He continued to yell as if Rick would answer or respond. There was a pause, then a rustle of cans on the ground. Kendal stood and approached the living room, but stopped at the end of the hall when Carl said, "I'd be fine if you died."

 _"I wish you would just get out of my life!"_

Kendal gulped and was frozen when she heard the boy leave the house once again. This time she didn't follow him.

Sunset came when Carl finally returned to the house. Kendal was kneeling by Rick's head, wiping his face again. She looked up at him and gave him a faint smile before looking away. Hesitantly, Carl walked over and sat on the floor near his father's feet in silence. Neither one of them talked until the sun went down. Kendal leaned her back against the wall next to the door and Carl stayed at the end of the couch. Kendal stayed awake even after she heard Carl's soft even breaths when he fell asleep. Looking over at the boy, she could only see half of his face in the moonlight. She held up her left hand to look at the diamond on her ring finger. She took a deep breath and released it slowly as she leaned her head on the armrest on her right and closed her eyes. Laying her hand across her lap, she started to imagine what her life might have been like if the world didn't become the nightmare it is now.

An image of a happy family running around a house, one mush like the one they found shelter in. She thought of two kids, a boy with green eyes and sandy blonde hair and a girl with dark brown hair with hazel eyes, and a man with dirty blonde hair and light hazel eyes across the room smiling at her from the couch. He waved for her to join her on the couch, and she walked forward.

"Kendal!"

The woman opened her green eyes to a startled Carl as he slid himself across the room. The man on the couch next to her groaned and moved slightly as she felt herself grow stiff. _"No… please no…"_ She begged as she crawled on her hands and knees to the boy and held his head protectively against her chest. He brought a hand up to her forearm and she could hear his raspy breath. Carl was _scared_. She held him tighter when Rick's body started to move more. Kendal felt the boy stumbled to grab the gun behind him and she allowed him to point it. She just continued to hold him tightly when Rick rolled off the sofa. She could hear his broken breath as he started to cry, pointing the gun at his father. Rick reached up and grabbed his foot and the boy dropped his gun. "I can't." He said in defeat, leaning into Kendal's embrace. "I was wrong…" Kendal didn't think she could either, but she picked up the gun anyways and pointed it.

 _A groan came from the ground below her behind the couch. She slowly walked around it, pointing her gun ahead of her. The sound of mush and tearing of flesh made her throat dry. She kept walking until she laid eyes on a young boy tearing apart a woman much older than she was. "No…" She said and the boy looked at her with bloodshot yellow eyes and growled at her. She could feel the tears rolling down her face as she backed herself against the wall and the undead boy approached her slowly and limping. "Please… don't make me…" She begged as the boy lunged and-_

"Carl…" Rick groaned, pulling himself up to face him. Kendal dropped her hand and the pistol fell out of her grasp. "Carl…" She released a long breath and started panting. "Don't go outside." She felt the trail of tears on her face and the stress released from her shoulders as she released Carl from her chest. "Stay inside. Stay safe." Then the man collapsed on the ground next to his son.

Carl pulled away from Kendal and took his father's head in his lap. Holding each side of his skull, he looked down at the unconscious man and said, "I'm scared." And started to cry again, leaning his head against his father's forehead and repeated himself over and over again in a soft, broken whisper. Kendal just sat back and watched as she looked back down at the glittering diamond on her left hand.

The next morning, Kendal sat on the opposite side of the room from the father and son as Rick lectured Carl about leaving the house. "You should have stopped him." He looked sharply at the woman and she just looked away.

"She did," Carl defended, "The first time, but the second time she was taking a nap and I slipped out while she was resting." Kendal looked at the boy in dismay as he defended her. He gave her a small, uncomfortable smile before turning to her father's lecture. When he said that he ate a 112 ounces of pudding, the three of them scoffed in amusement and smiled. The small moment of delight was nice, even after Rick admitted to the fact that things won't return to how it was. Kendal tried to cling onto any kind of enjoyment nowadays, no matter how brief.

A knocking came from the door and the three of the scurried for weapons. Rick looked through the peephole before falling on the couch laughing to himself. "What?" Carl asked in a whisper. Rick looked up at Kendal then to his son with a crooked smile.

"It's for you."


	8. Chapter 8

Opening the door after moving the couch and untying the cord, Kendal was quick to embrace Michonne. The warmth of her friend was comforting. "Oh thank God…" She whispered just before releasing her. A smile spread across her lips and looked around her. "Is anyone else with you?" She shook her head and her smile faded as she looked back at the two males in the house. "Oh right!" Kendal stepped back inside, "Hurry, come in." She welcomed Michonne by waving her into the house.

After she was changed, she joined Carl in the dining room. They joked and talked while Kendal and Rick were in the kitchen. "Thank you, for looking after Carl while I was-"

"No problem." Kendal cut him off and smiled at him. She continued to eat her bowl of cereal on the counter next to him. "It's what we do," She looked up at him as she chewed, "we look out for each other." Rick nodded with a moan as he started to eat as well.

After a moment of silence, Rick groaned again and looked over at the woman next to him. "I don't I've ever asked, but-" Kendal looked up at him as she finished her breakfast, "-what was your life like? Ya'know, before all this?" He waved his spoon in the air in a circle.

Kendal chew and swallowed quickly. "I was a high school English teacher in a small town on the coast of Georgia." She said plainly. Rick seemed to be waiting for more, but she didn't continue when Michonne walked into the room. Kendal stood up and walked out of the room, tossing her bowl into the sink with her spoon inside. Leaving the kitchen, she walked upstairs and found Carl in his room reading. She knocked on the doorframe and his head popped up. "Can we talk?" He nodded, closing his book and placing it next to him. The brunette slowly walked over and took a spot next to him on the bed. "What's up?" He asked her as she licked her dry lips. "Before," She started, "in the street, when we were yelling, I-"

"I'm sorry." Carl beat her. She looked at him, a little shocked. He pressed his lips in a small smile, "I'm also sorry for the last few days. I know that you were only trying to look after me and my dad." He nodded as he looked up at her dark green eyes. She didn't realize how much this kid must've had to grow since this all happened. He was very mature and brave for his age, and it only took Kendal this long to realize it. She smile and chuckled a little bit. "What?" He asked her, his smile spread across his face. She just laughed a little louder.

"I-It's nothing." She leaned her head back against the wall and slowly blinked her eyes. "It's just… you remind me of my little brother, that's all." She looked down at him, keeping her head rested against the poster-covered wall. "You had a little brother?" He asked her, growing in amusement. She nodded. "He had just as much of an attitude as you do." She teased and elbowed him in the shoulder as they shared a laugh. "But he also thought that he could fish by himself," She kept her eyes on Carl as she paused, "without any experience or help from anyone."

"How hard is fishing?" Carl asked, cocking his head sideways. He didn't seem to understand what she meant. She just scoffed at him.

"How hard is fishing?" She asked mockingly to him, "Was shooting a gun for the first time a walk in the park?" Kendal saw that Carl pausing to think, "It was more than just pointing and shooting right?" He nodded slowly. "There are many favors that go into fishing," She held up her hand and flipped up a finger as she listed, "What kind of rod to use, how to draw a line, what kind of bait is best, the best spot to fish, and how to unhook a fish without damaging the meat." Carl listened intensely as she explained each aspect of the factors. "Guess what he did?" She asked. Carl just shook his head, unable to think how her younger brother could have screwed up _fishing_. "He caught the back of his shirt with his hook and gave himself a scratch that ran, right along his back." She took her finger and dragged it across his spine up to the bottom of her neck. "No way…" The young boy gasped in disbelief and laughed slightly. Kendal nodded and smiled at the memory, "It left his a noticeable scar and he didn't swim without a shirt for a _year_." Carl shook his head and Kendal nodded. They both laughed and sighed to sit in silence for a few minutes.

"What happened to him?" Carl's question made Kendal's smile disappear and he noticed the melancholy look in her eyes. She didn't answer and he didn't ask again. "S-Sorry," Carl apologized in the awkward silence. Rick's voice carried when he called his son downstairs. Just before he left the room, he looked at Kendal at the doorway. "I would've liked to meet your brother." He said before leaving her alone in the bedroom.

The brunette woman came back downstairs when she heard the front door shut. "Did they leave to get more food?" She asked Rick as he stood by the end of the couch opposite of the doorway. He nodded as he leaned against the armrest. "I'm going to go clean myself up," She said as she turned back around to head upstairs, "If you need anything, just holler." Rick nodded and followed her back upstairs. He went to his own bedroom and she turned into the restroom.

Locking the door behind her, she stripped down to her bra and underwear. She stopped to look at the tattoo she had around the bone on the inside of her ankle. She lightly touched the black koi design that circled her joint and sighed depressingly. She unwrapped her thigh where the bullet scratched her and accidently opened the wound when she peeled away the old gauze. The wound was deeper than she thought as the red liquid dripped to the tile under her as she wiped it clean and re-wrapped it. The red that bled through the white made her think of something she hasn't thought about in a while.

 _"I wonder how Daryl is doing out there…"_

She shook her head and finished her wrapping and leaned over the sink to turn the handle for running water. She splashed the cold water in her face and looked at her reflection. She didn't have time to worry about anyone else. All she had to focus on right now is staying together with Rick, Carl, and now Michonne. The arrival of the black woman brought back the positivity in Kendal's thoughts. _"This group has ways of being put back together…"_ She believed as she nodded in the mirror. She believed that everyone will be brought back together, one way or another. She had to keep believing that. She had to.

For the next hour, she sat upstairs with her back against the side of Rick's bed as he read his book. She cleaned and sharpens the end of her spear. "You never actually answered my question before." Rick's rough voice caught her attention. She pulled her loose braid over her shoulder when he looked up at him. He patted the bed at his feet for her to sit and she accepted slowly. "You said that you were a English teacher," Rick started when he saw Kendal looking submissively away, "but you didn't tell me about that ring." He pointed to her left hand. She quickly covered it with her other and felt his eyes scan her questionably. "Kendal, is that an engagement ring?" She quickly turned her head, tossing her braid against her back, her eyes widened. She knew that he knew the answer, but Kendal didn't want to say it. The thought made her fill with heat and her throat dried up. After what felt like several moments, but was only seconds, she nodded slowly. "What happen'?" She didn't even want to answer him. She didn't want to think about what happened. He must have saw about how painful the questions were, because she saw him lay down on his back and she moved slightly to make room for his legs to extend. He laid his book on his chest and closed him eyes.

He lied there, but didn't fall asleep right away. "I did have a fiancé but I don't know what happened to him after he-" She paused and choked back on the memory, "-after he left me in the street with a walker clinging to my leg." Kendal looked over at Rick as he sat up with a dazed expression. She gave him an uncomfortable, thin smile, but he nodded. "That was right before Daryl and Michonne found me."

"Right before they found you." He repeated. "I reckon that's when that happened," Rick continue to nod as he laid back down, "I'm glad you're with us, Kendal," He didn't exactly smile, but he didn't need to for the brunette to know that he was serious. "You'r' a whole lot tougher than you look ya'know." Kendal chuckled at his words, but didn't reply. She didn't know how to reply since she never had to be _this_ tough for any situation, not even back then.

She watched him as he slipped into a relaxed slumber and she relaxed herself. Looking down at the ring, she rolled the diamond in between her fingers and slid it off. It left an indention in her finger. The sunlight glared off it into her eyes. "I should have just thrown it away…" She said to herself as she tightened a fist around it, but released it the instant the crystal poked at her skin. She slowly slid it back onto her finger and laid back in the bed and closed her eyes.

The door opened downstairs and she rushed to get up. Pulling her legs back on the bed and she stopped when she heard unfamiliar voices inside the walls. She shook Rick awake and his eyes shot opened. She pressed her index finger against her lips and stood from the bed. She walked to the door frame and leaned around the corner. They seemed to be exploring down stairs as she pressed her ear against the door. She reached to doorknob, but stopped when she heard a man say, "You guys stay downstairs." She turned to Rick and saw him crawl under the bed. She scrabbled to quietly join him. They watched the body move around upstairs and Kendal covered her mouth to refrain from making any noises.

The man held a long rifle when he walked into the room. He paused in front of the bed and they held their breaths. Then he kicked a shirt and opened the closet door before throwing himself on the bed.

Kendal looked over at Rick when the bed concaved down on them and she saw his hands shaking. She wasn't sure if it was because he was still recovering or if he was scared, either way she took his hand in hers tightly for comfort. He looked at her, his eyes questioning her, and she nodded; biting her lips together. His hands still shook in hers, but she felt better with the contact. Kendal wanted to run, every part of her told her to run, but she couldn't. She knew she couldn't leave Rick behind, or Carl, or Michonne. She had to stay strong for _them_. So that maybe she could find _him_ again. _"If I make it out of this,_ " She promised herself, _"I'll tell him the truth."_

Another hour might have went by because the man on the bed started to snore. Kendal started to control her breathing better when Rick tugged on her. He started to mouth something to her and she nodded. They released their hands and started to slide out from under the bed in opposite directions. Another set of footsteps started to come up the stairs and around the corner, causing them to slide back into place once again. The two intruders started to bicker about the bed above them when Kendal started to feel her body aching from the stiffness and her chest was started to hurt from pressing against the ground. The second man pulled up the first man from the bed and they started to quarrel next to the bed. Kendal reached form Rick's hand against to keep calm and held her breath as one of them collapsed to the ground; limp after the other choked the other with a belt. "My bed now, jackoff." Said the second man as he hopped on the bed. His boot handed next to Kendal's head and Rick looked at the sleeping man in front of them.

A few more minutes go by and the man above them was snoring too. Rick shook Kendal's hand and she started to move again. Rick and Kendal moved in opposite directions out from under the bed. The woman froze when her shoulder touched the man's boot and shot her eyes to Rick. He nodded at her and she angled herself to move between his foot and the leg of the bed. Slowly and carefully, they both got to their feet and looked at each other. Rick looked at the man on the bed. A man downstairs called some names and Kendal felt her body stop moving again. Rick moved, waving his hand for her to follow, and she did. She matched her steps with his as they ducked into another room by the top of the stairs. Kendal recognized the room as Carl's when she sat and talked to him earlier that day. Rick pulled on her arm to the bed and pushed her to the opposite wall from him. They both leaned back and controlled their breaths.

Another set of footsteps entered the room and messed with some of the toys on the shelves. He walked up to the doorway and Kendal held her breath and covered her mouth. Even when he started to throw a tennis ball against the windows, she couldn't help but look at Rick with fear in her eyes. _"Don't look, don't look, don't look, don't look,"_ She repeated in her head and closed her eyes. She didn't open them again until she heard the bouncing ball fade outside of the room. Looking back at Rick, she saw him try to open a window, but failed. She tried the windows near here, but wasn't any help.

"Hey! There's a woman staying here!" A man called downstairs. Kendal felt her heart drop even more than it already had. She shot a look at Rick as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her against the shelf against the wall with the door. He grabbed a trophy from the shelf and held it readily in his hand. Kendal's face lit up and she tugged on his sleeve. "I need my spear…" She whispered with urgency. Rick shook his head and ducked away when the men from their room walked out.

"What are you hollarin' about?" Another man asked. They started yelling about some shirt that was washed this morning, whether it was Kendal's or Michonne ran through the olive-skinned woman's head and she regretted it instantly. _"Not the time."_ She told herself. The moved out of the room and against another wall in the hallway at the top of the stairs. Kendal looked at Rick as he left her side and ran to the room they were originally in. Unable to react in time, she stood in her place and when another man came back upstairs, Rick stumbled back and shoved both of them into the bathroom. Shutting the door, Kendal could feel eyes on her back.

Turning to the toilet, Rick was the first to attack the man on it. He swung his around and the trophy. Kendal backed herself into the bathtub as Rick wrapped a towel around his neck and held him against the wall. Leaning forward, the man tried to reach form some scissors and Kendal lunged to grab them before he could even touch them. Her breath grew heavier and thicker as she panicked, watching the ex-sheriff choke the man until he was unconscious with the sharp pair of scissor blades in her hands. She couldn't even feel the blades piercing her skin and blood dripped to the bottom of the tube. Rick took his gun and looked at Kendal's shaking form. He reached over, pulling her out of the tub and she held onto the scissors. His blue eyes scanned over her as he gripped onto her shoulders and instantly threw the scissors away to examine her hands.

Her palms were cut with a solid down across her crease under her knuckle and be looked at her an "Are you okay?" look and Kendal nodded. Her hands started to sting now, as Rick took a hand towel and wrapped in of her hands in it and pressed her other on against it. With her hands in a praying position, he leaned against the window and slid it up. "We need to go," he looked her in the eyes with a hand on each sides of her frightened face, "Now."

She shook her head vigorously. "N-Not without my spear." He looked at her confused. "What?" "I need that spear, it belonged to my dad." She explained but he just kept shaking his head. "I'll meet you by the woods before sunset," she paused when she heard footsteps, "If I'm not out there by then, you, Carl, and Michonne leave without me." Rick just kept shaking his head as Kendal smiled weakly. "I have faith that everyone will be together again." Her smile grew more warmly as she start to push him to the opened window. "Now take the gun and _go_." He nodded and left the room to the roof as the footsteps got closer and she watched him leave the roof with her alone with the limp body on the floor.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Author's Note: WARNING: This chapter, and possibly a few more afterwards, might become rated T- M with some NSFW triggers related to rape. If you are uncomfortable, just don't read it. No need to make comments. There will be a ** to show where it starts and end so you can skip over it.**_

* * *

After few minutes went by, Kendal finally cracked the door open to poke her head out. She wrapped the hand towel around her left hand and had picked up the scissors again; holding them in her right hand. Slowly opening the door more and more, footsteps moved at the bottom of the stairs as gun shots echoed in the house. Growls of the walkers came in the distance as the footsteps rushed away. She swung the door open when the voices were outside and rushed swiftly to the bedroom and searched by the bed.

All her weapons were _gone._

"Shit..." She hissed in a whisper as she spun around in a panic and walked quickly, keeping her feet as silent as possible, and looked over the edge of the bars at the top of the stairs. She spotted the tip of her spear at the bottom of the stairs. Licking her lips, she took a step down the stairs, but stopped when the voices came back into the house.

"Quit wasting bullets, dumbasses." A raspy voice bellowed and she backed herself up into the bedroom. "Start using this spear we found and save the more useful weapons for when we actually need them..." The voices and footsteps started up the stairs and Kendal twirled around to shove herself into the closet and quickly shutting the door, turning the doorknob as she shut it so that it didn't click.

She pushed apart the hangers and squeezed herself to the back to cover her petite body with as much hanged clothing as possible. She could see the dimming light at the bottom of the door. The light was blocked by a body at the doorway and the knob turned with a click.

"Hey," a voice called and the door stopped with a small crack in the door frame. The woman inhaled and held her breath. _"Go away, go away, go away, go away_. _"_ She begged with her green eyes squeezed shut. "There isn't anything in there, I already checked."

"What about new clothes?" The man right in front of the door asked. Opening it a little more. Kendal curled in her lips over her teeth and bit down on them. She had to get back to Rick and the others, but she needed her father's spear. She can't imagine going anywhere without it. It was pretty much the only weapon she could use efficiently and practically.

"They all have holes and are all torn." The man left the door cracked as Kendal followed him leave with her eyes. She exhaled slowly through her nostrils when their footsteps continued back down stairs when another man called for them. Her hand relaxed a little around the scissor handles as she pushed open the door with her foot and stepped out in one swift movement.

She looked around the corner and walked on her toes to the stairs and down them. She heard voices and pressed her back against the walls of the stairs. An older man with grey hair walked past her into the dinning room from the living room. Voices came from the kitchen as he joined them. Kendal saw her spear rested against the doorway and lunged to grab it.

With the rugged painted handed in her grasp, she felt the tension in her shoulder release with her breath. The floorboard creaked in the room next to her and her head whipped around to the living room and made eye contact with a dirty man with a full grown beard. Her breath got caught in her chest as they stared at each other for a second before the man rushed to stand up and she opened the door abruptly and ran outside.

"Hey! Guys!" The man behind her shouted."I found the girl!" Kendal sprinted with her spear in one hand and the pair of scissors in the other. She heard multiple rushing footsteps chasing after her; and catching up fast. The sun was setting and turned and ran down the street.

"Rick!" The brunette screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping it carried to her companions, "Rick! Carl! Michonne!" She screamed just before a sharp pain in her shoulder knocked her to the ground. Her head was in a daze as she noticed a red liquid start to run across the ground. _"Blood."_ She thought as she was picked up by her waist by two strong arms. She started kicking and screaming, wailing the same names over and over again until she was muffled by a thick cloth. She saw herself start to move in the opposite direction as she kicked and her screams were nothing but moans against the cloth in her felt hopeless, but she dropped her scissors and the man screamed and fell backwards.

Kendal noticed that he had stepped on scissors blades and she pushed herself off him, throwing away the cloth in her mouth and started to run with her hand pressed against her shoulder, but was only caught by another pair of arms. She was muffled again as she failed to get free. "Hold still, Bitch." A man growled in her ear, but she didn't stop. He threw her on the ground and she was knocked out instantly.

"You better not've killed her..." Another man said to the man just before she stopped hearing things all together.

When Kendal woke up again, it was nighttime and she was hung over the shoulder of some man as they walked in the woods. Popping her head up the moment she woke up, she made eye contact with a thick breaded man. He smirked up at her. "Lookie here," he walked up closer to her, "She's finally awake." She glared at him as the man holding her bucked his shoulder to adjust her, placing a hand firmly on her thigh.

She growled. "Hey." Hissing as she pounded her fist in his back. He and the bearded man laughed quietly.

"Looks like she's a feisty one, huh, Dan?" The bearded man chuckled as he examined her, licking his lips, "She's one fine piece of ass too." The man holding her laughed as he heard her spit at the man. "No manners after we saved your dumbass?"

"Saved me?" Kendal asked, "You _shot_ me in the _shoulder_!" She pressed her hands on the man's back to prop herself up to look down at him, "And who are you callin' a _dumbass_ , dumbass?!"

"Don't forget that you're the one that ran for no reason." The man pointed a finger at her, then pressed it under her chin. She whipped her head away and tried to reach him, but he only grabbed her wrist only to tie them together.

"Len, keep it down back there," The older man called back to them. He seemed to be in charge when Len apologized and shoved a bundle of cloth back into the brunette's mouth. She only continued to glare at him as he teased and winked at her. She felt the man holding her slide his hands up her tight and she started to hit him until he finally dropped her. She groaned and rolled on the ground as she tried to stand up. She was shoved back to the ground and tried to squirm free, but it was useless.

"Gotta name, Sweetheart?" The old man asked her. He removed the cloth and she gasped for air with a wheezing 'Screw you' just before he put it back in her mouth. "Well now Darlin', no need to get hostile out here," He sat back and watched her squirm, "We only want you to join our little gang we got goin' on." He watched Kendal shake her head aggressively. "What? You got another one?" She nodded. "Where? In that house earlier?" Kendal froze, suspecting what he might be getting at. He got closer to her, whispering in her ear, "Was it your _buddy_ that killed one of ours?" She didn't respond, but he flipped her over and held a knife to her neck. Her eyes widened as his shadowy face grew menacing, "Or was it you?" She still wasn't going to answer. Kendal knew that she wasn't a liar or a snitch. A moment goes by and the old man moved his knife down and the brunette woman squeezed her eyes shut. She opened them again when her hands were freed from the restraints and the bundle of cloth was removed from her mouth. "I'm Joe, and there are some rules you're goin' to need to know if you want to live with us." Kendal _definitely_ didn't want to stay around with them, but what choice did she have? She knew that she was pretty much useless on her own, what's the harm in joining up with these guys? She nodded as he helped her up and started to explain the whole 'Claiming' thing.

It was simple, so when he was done, he looked around and Kendal was quickly grabbed by the bicep she looked up and saw the profile of the man, Len, as he stated proudly and possessively, "Claimed." Clearly Kendal didn't see what was exactly going on until he looked down at her with that same smirk as before. She tried to yank her arm away as Joe called for everyone to rest for the night and left them to themselves.

The rest of the night was long for Kendal as she tried her best to fight off the man that _claimed_ her. She mumbled 'No" as least twenty times as he fought to tie her hands together once more against a tree. "Don' you worry, sweetheart," The man cooed, "I'll make it painless." Kendal didn't believe him, but couldn't fight back because of her hands becoming totally useless to her. "Better keep your voice down, we don' want those undead things showing up in the middle." And Kendal did. She shut her mouth, but she didn't stop resisting. But she couldn't stop him from using her the way he did. Tears caught in the back of her throat as she resented all the choices she made. Resenting herself. Resenting the lie she was told about _safety_.

" _Safety is a fragile thing,"_ She reminded herself, _"It's as fragile as thin glass."_

The next morning, Kendal woke up by the tree. Once Len was done with her, she couldn't walk so she just sat at the bottom of the tree as he left her by herself. She had no weapon to defend herself so she didn't sleep. When the sun came up, she rejoined the other Claimers, but kept her distance. She looked over at Len sleeping soundly and took a few steps away. She stepped on a twig and the whole group woke up. The scrabbled for their weapons and pointed them in her direction, twisting and turning to see if there was a walker around. "Good mornin' Darlin'." She was starting to hate that nickname even more. She made eye contact with the leader of the group, Joe, as he approached her. The others packed up camp and stomped out the fire. "Hope you had a good night." She knew exactly what he meant. Kendal just glared at him with her dark green eyes and walked around him. He grabbed her by the bicep and his voice changed. "Everyone here contributes," He mumbled in her ear, "What else can you do?" She kept her glare up at him, trying to tug her arm away, but fails as he tightened his grip to hurt her.

She inhaled and exhaled with a low grumble. He smiled at her defeat. "I can fish." He laughed.

"We all can fish-"

"With a spear." She finished with a sharp tongue. He released her, whistling to another one of his men and waved for him to approach. When he did, he turned him around by force and grabbed her father's spear out of his back. He presented it and she reached to grab it quickly, but he pulled it back.

"I have to believe that you won't turn against us," Joe smiled again, "Because we don't tolerate liars or cheats." He lowered his head to look her in the eyes and she could see that he wasn't joking, no matter how nice the smile looked. She could tell that he was threatening her. "Do we have a deal?" Kendal nodded and quickly took her fishing spear when he finally would let her go. "Now," He spoke louder to get the other's attention, "There might be a creak up ahead. Darlin' here is going to catch us some dinner." He put her on the spot as everyone looked down at her.

" _Well shit."_ Kendal hissed at herself.


	10. Chapter 10

The group walked so close to each other Kendal couldn't help but think about Rick and the others from the prison. Her eyes darted back and forth around her, reminding herself that _they_ weren't them. The men were dangerous and willing to do more than just kill people to get what they want. Kendal was forced to stay close to Joe at the front with her spear in both her hands. She felt them tighten as some footsteps behind her got closer and quicker to meet hers. "Hey." A familiar voice that she didn't want to remember rang in her ears. "Why don' you tell me your name?" He cooed. She didn't answer as she kept her eyes forward. "Playin' hard to get, I like it." She wanted nothing more than to stab Len's annoying face and rid her from him. She even had a mental plan of how she was going to do it too. Stomping on his feet first, then hitting him in the crotch with the end of her spear and when he was crouched over, she would run the pointed end through the back of his skull. However, she knew that she couldn't do it. Kendal just didn't have it in her to kill another human; a live one.

Reaching the small creak, Kendal stepped in front of Joe and looked over the edge of it. "Showtime, Darlin'." The brunette gritted her teeth as she scanned over the clear water. A guy in the back of the group asked why they couldn't just fish themselves, and Kendal hushed him without realizing it. Her whole focus was on finding her prey.

Stepping into the water slowly without splashing too much, she made her way to the middle of the slow running water. She turned slowly too keep from affecting the river flow too much. There was next to nothing in the river, as if it was fished dry. She couldn't even see egg sacks at the bottom of the river. She reeled her arm back, ready for any sort of movement, then she threw the spear a few feet away from her. Kendal wasn't even thinking anymore, she forgot the feeling of throwing the long pointed ended rod as she stomped over to pull out the spear with a fish at the end of it. She tossed up the large fish and saw the grey-haired man smirk as she turned back to fish some more.

Later that evening, the whole group were eating cans and the fish Kendal caught. At any rustle in the trees she would flinch and the boys would tease her about it. They took their time, chatting and joking around, but Kendal quickly ate her food and put distance between her and the men. She felt more comfortable with them at a distance and with her spear in her hands. She watched Len stand up, growling angrily at another man, Dan, the man that was carrying her the previous day.

"Like hell that'd happen," He stepped closer threatening him with his finger, "you know what _claiming_ means. Don't break that code." Kendal swallowed her throat and felt her shoulders start to shake. Her knuckles were white around the handle of her spear as he approached her. "Get over here." He growled, dragging her away into the woods, taking her spear from her hands and throwing it away.

He forced himself on her again, leaving her to try and fight him off, but to no prevail. Kendal hated this. He was angry, and he was taking it out on her like _this_. He hit her and made the whole experience painful. He just kept growling 'Mine' in repeat as he continued. She wanted it all to stop, and begged him to stop but he didn't listen. Again, when he was done with her, he just dropped her and left her by the bottom of a tree for her to clean up.

As she pulled on her clothes, she saw her pale hands shaking. She held them up in front of her face and watched them vibrate in place as she fought back the emotions she had. Kendal had to keep telling herself for now that emotions are nothing but wasted breath. If she had time to cry, she had time to walk or kill or anything, except _feel_ something like pain or sadness. The only emotion she allowed herself to feel was anger.

When it was night time, she returned to the group from fishing, she was confronted by Joe. He grabbed her by the throat and held her up off the ground. "You think this is a vacation?" He hissed at her as he tightened his grip, "Making us wait for your weak ass?!" Joe dropped her and she collapsed to the ground. "We need to eat, and you're our best fisher at the moment." Joe crouched down and grabbed her by the jaw to look up at him, his eyes widened in irritation. "You better have caught something good." She nodded and pointed with her eyes at the meat lying on the ground. He smiled in satisfaction as he released her and grabbed the pile of fish. "As punishment for making us wait, you don't get any." He said, carrying it away. The group gathered around the fire and stuck the fish around it to cook. Kendal just curled up in the background against a tree and watched them with narrow eyes. Her spear was still by her side as she slid it under her legs to keep from any of them from taking it.

 _"I'll see them again."_ Kendal thought to herself as she glared at the men in front of her, laughing and enjoying the meat she caught, _"I'll kill them to make it happen."_

"Rick!" The male's head popped up. Sitting at the edge of the treeline, Rick sat with Michonne and Carl waiting for their friend to rejoin them. "Rick! Carl! Michonne!" Then there was a gun fire and the body in the distance collapsed and was picked up by a man. Rick saw her fighting and trying to get free as the man fell and she started to run again.

"We should go help!" Carl stated as he started to go to her. Rick quickly reached for his son to stop him as another man grabbed Kendal in the distance. He continued to fight as she was gagged. "Dad we have to!" Rick didn't listen to him as he and Michonne backed up in silence. Carl tried to tell his father and their friend that they couldn't leave Kendal behind. "She needs us!"

"She'll be fine," Rick told him, kneeling down to embrace his son tightly. Looking over Carl's shoulder, he saw Kendal be thrown against the ground and her body stop moving. He took Carl and Michonne back into the trees as their friend was carried off back into the house they had escaped from.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

For the next week, the group walked ahead of Kendal, leaving her without a chaperone. She found peace in it and kept twirling her spear between her hands smoothly, keeping the men away as they tried to not get stabbed. It wasn't until Joe stopped that everyone stopped. Everyone grouped up behind him in a line as he pointed to a body sitting on the asphalt, hunched over in front of the tree line. He ordered them to stay quiet and for Kendal to stay back as they walked up to circle around him. "Well, lookit here." Joe said. Kendal took a step closer, feeling as if she knew that shaggy haired man as he stood up and knocked Joe over, holding his crossbow pointed down at the older man.

"I claim the vest!" Len shouted as Kendal stepped out. Her movement brought the crossbow pointed at her and she pointed the sharp end of her spear up at him. They stood there, staring at each other with sharp eyes until the man pulled down his bow.

"Kendal?" Dropping her spear, Kendal raced over to embrace Daryl. She hanged tightly around his neck and she felt him slowly hug her around her waist; tightening softly around her. Kendal didn't speak, but Daryl could feel her shaking in his arm. "What happened to you?" He asked in a whisper in her ear just before she was pulled off him by the man that _claimed_ his vest.

"So your name is Kendal?" He looked down at her, with a firm grip on her arm. Kendal looked up at the bald man, Dan, then couldn't make eye contact with anyone when Daryl aimed his arrow at the bearded man. "You know her?" He asked, throwing her away and pulling out his compact bow and arrow. "What are you her boyfriend or somethin'?" Kendal got up and pulled on the man's hoodie.

"Stop, he's a good man." Kendal begged, looking at Daryl with pleading eyes. Her shoulders were ben upwards and Daryl could see her shaking. He almost didn't recognize her since her dark brown hair laid loosely against her back instead of being tied back in a braid. Her olive skin was half a shade darker than before and she looked as if she lost a few pounds in the last few weeks. Daryl's attention was drawn back when he heard weapons get cocked back and froze when they heard Joe laughing, his nose bleeding from being knocked down.

"A bow man," He said standing up, completely disregarding the relationship between Kendal and Daryl. "I respect that. See, a man with a rifle, he could have been some kind of photographer." He kept his eyes on Daryl as he nodded to Kendal, "And a girl with a spear to fish? You don't see that every day." He examined the man with the bow, "A bowman's a bowman, through and through." Joe went on and on about how he was looking for a weapon like that, just not one like his.

Len chuckled, "Get yourself in some trouble, partner?" Kendal turned around and headed in the direction they came in. "And where do you think you're going?" Kendal didn't answer and she leaned over to grab her father's spear. "Hey," He cocked back his bow and arrow, "I said, where do you think you're goin'?" He was stopped by Daryl pointing his crossbow at him.

"Let her pick it up." He demanded. With how close he was to him, Len dropped his arrow and Kendal picked up her spear and walked back to the circle without a word. Daryl could see that Kendal had changed in the last few weeks since the prison, he suspected it was because she was forced to be on her own.

Joe chuckled again. "Pull that trigger, these men will drop you several times over, is that what you want?" He asked him. "I'm sure that Darlin' over there doesn't want that." Kendal shifted her weight and swallowed some saliva that gathered because of her nervousness. Joe called it suicide. Kendal called it _'dumb'_ in her head. If any one of them even laid a finger on Daryl, she was going to snap _again_. Joe introduced himself and so did Daryl. Concluding that the redneck had joined the Claimers, Kendal started to walk away again with her spear thrown stiffly over her shoulder.

Daryl look at her back and still couldn't see the Kendal he knew anymore. He didn't like this Kendal and wasn't sure how to approach her as they walked behind her and Joe. "So," Len walked up behind Daryl, following his eyes to Kendal, "What's ya'll relationship, huh? Couple?" Daryl just grumbled and walked a little faster to get away from the bearded man. Daryl reached up and grabbed Kendal by the arm, her arm whipped around and he saw the anxiety in her eyes subsided when she saw his blue-green eyes. She didn't say anything as he released her, but kept her pace with his as they walked. He felt eyes on the back of his head, and when he turned he saw the bearded guy, Len, eyeing him from the rear of the group. For a second, the stranger's eyes trailed off and Daryl followed his gaze. He was also watching Kendal from behind, but she didn't seem to notice or care to notice. Her profile was stern and she was starting to look older than her actual age. Daryl wanted to know what had happened to the woman that would constantly poke her nose into business to ask to go on runs until he finally said no. Even with all that had happened, her eyes were full of life and color. Now all he could see was an empty shell of the woman he used to know.

Later that evening, the group had stopped for the night in a small opening in the forest. Kendal laid against a tree root away from everyone else, with her spear leaning against the trunk of the tree. She didn't sleep, so her head popped up and grabbed her spear when footsteps approached her. It was Daryl, but she couldn't see very well so she was still on edge.

"Kendz, it's me." Daryl whispered in the darkness. Kendal lowered her weapon, but didn't' let go of it as he sat down across from her. He didn't say anything else as she leaned back against the tree trunk and watched him lower himself. The man could tell that if he made a move that she didn't like, she might poke him with her pointed stick. "I'm only going to lay down right here until mornin'." He told her as he did what he mentioned. The moonlight showed half of her features, including newly wrapped bandage around her shoulder. "What happened?" He asked with his head laid against the fallen leaves. Kendal didn't answer, laying her spear across her lap and turning her head so that Daryl could see the moonlight shining off of her. He watched her close her eyes and the rises of her chest ease up until he was sure that she had fallen asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning they were awaken by a walker rattling the cans around them. Kendal woke up and started to kick the ground and reaching for her spear. She held her breath and looked around at her feet. Daryl was gone. A small pit of rage filled in her chest as she stood and looked around. He left her _again_? He was her chance to get away from these guys and he _left her_. Irritable, she walked over and stabbed the walker before anyone else could. "Hey." One of them called out to her. She shot him a glare and he shut his mouth.

"He's got a pair if he'd gone out on his own." One of the groggy men said.

"He don't." Len stated, "He left his stuff here. Probably just stepped out to drop a morning deuce." Len looked around and so did Kendal. She saw a few solid footsteps in a line and started to follow them without a word to anyone, not stopping when one of them called out to her. She walked and walked using her spear as a walking stick through the woods. She caught the silence again, remembering how she used to love it. Now, she stomped her way through the fallen leaves just to keep the silence away, because now silence brings the unknown and anxiety to her rattled mind. Hearing a distant rustle, Kendal was startled when a strong grasp took her by the wrist and pulled her into some covering. Looking up, she saw Daryl pressing a finger to his lips to keep her quiet. She furrowed at him as he looked over her and looked at a walker passing by. Daryl held Kendal tight around the shoulders to keep her from moving an inch until the walker was out of sight.

Then Kendal pushed herself off of him and out of the bushes. Daryl stepped out and they just looked at each other for a moment. The woman felt the pit of angry rise up and dropped her spear to start hitting him. "Hey, Hey!" Daryl started shouted as Kendal released all of her frustration. He struggled to grab her arms to restrain her from hitting him in the chest anymore.

"You don't get to leave!" She shouted as he fell backwards tripping on a root. "You don't get to leave me again!" Leaning over him, balling her fist and gritting her teeth. Her eyes squinted, as if trying to hold back tears. "I'm tired of being left behind! I'm _always_ left behind." Her voice got quieter as she spoke. She dropped to her knees and her eyes started to become glazed over with unfallen tears. "You're the only one that finds me." She mumbled, her expression changing from angry to a gloomy nostalgic look, "You can't leave me too." Kendal wasn't weak. She realized that in the last week or so. She knew what she has to do to survive, she'd even killed her first _live_ human since she parted with Rick, Carl, and Michonne. She knew from the start how dangerous the world had become, she just didn't want others to have the same tension. Now that didn't matter anymore. Kendal needed to survive to get back to the people she cared about, to protect them too. She didn't need to smile and joke to do that. She needed to be tough and strong for that.

Daryl saw how much the world must have changed her since the prison as he sat there and watched as she fought back the tears. He didn't know how to comfort the woman, since in the past she never seem to need to be comforted. He just sat there and watched as she whipped her face with her hands and stood up with her spear. "You were hunting something right?" She asked him. He nodded and quickly got to his feet. "Lead the way." She instructed him. He just walked past her and she followed closely behind.

After a few minutes, Daryl spotted a rabbit and told Kendal to say put as he pointed his crossbow at it. He sat there and Kendal watched from a good distance in some leaves. He knelt down with his cheek pressed against the metal of his bow and waited for the small animal to stop moving. When he saw the signs, he pulled the trigger and released his arrow just as another arrow flew past him and shot his target as well. Daryl looked back and it was Len right behind him with his bow raised. "What the hell you doin'?" Daryl asked as he stood up.

Len held a smug look on his face as he joked. "Catching me some breakfast." He said simply.

Daryl stood up looking at the man. "Well, it's mine." He said as he walked over to the dead rabbit. "I've been out here since before the sun was up." He informed him, kneeling over to pull out the arrows.

"My arrow hit the rabbit first." Len countered when Daryl threw his arrow to the side. "That rabbit you're holding," He pointed, "Is claimed whether or not you like it."

Kendal watched from the distance and slowly made her way to the two men. She listened as Len told Daryl how the rules of the hunt don't matter out here. Len threatened him to hand over the cottontail rabbit. Then he started talking about how some girl must have gotten Daryl all messed up and confused. That's when Kendal remembered something. _"Where is Beth?"_ She thought to herself as Len kept talking about the _little'n_ don't survive well out here. Daryl pulled his knife, but Joe reached up to stop him and told them to put their weapons down. Kendal finally reached then and Len looked over at her. "Is it her?" He pointed his bow tip at the brunette, "Because she'd already been claimed too, ya'know." His last comment had Daryl try to push through Joe to get to him.

"Did you claim it?" Joe asked Len about the rabbit, not acknowledging Kendal. Len nodded and Joe faced both of them. "Well, let's have it. It belongs to Len." Joe ordered. Daryl still refused, so Joe explained the whole _claiming_ deal again in detail to him.

"I ain't claiming nothing." Daryl growled.

Len stepped up, his mouth in a deep frown in his beard. "We're gonna teach him, right?" Kendal knew what that meant and decided to finally step in. She tugged on Len's sleeve for his to back off. He waved her off, keeping his eyes on Joe and Daryl. "Teach'em." He demanded.

Joe looked away and told Daryl that he wasn't going to punish him for violating the one rule he made. Len walked away with an irritated laugh. Kendal decided to finally leave the site and head back to the camp they made. She walked with her spear as a walking stick and kept her distance from everyone like always and they kept theirs. The claiming rule was something she hated. Just hearing the word made her sick to her stomach and want to vomit. Back at the camp she gather the few things she carried, and grabbed Daryl's bag as well, and headed back to the bottom of the hill where the rest were. She ran into him on the way and handed him the duffle bag. Holding it out in one hand, he looked at her confused and she waved it for him to take. They didn't speak as they nodded to each other and started to walk with the rest of the group.

They walked along some train tracks and Kendal walked in the middle by herself. She could hear Joe talking to Daryl in the back, but she just kept to her thoughts. All she thought about was an event that happened a few days back just the day before they found Daryl.

 _It was night time and the group was resting and sleeping. Kendal was awake so she decided to roam around for a bit to try to help her clear her head. She ran into a few walkers, but ended up finding an open field that was lit up by dim moonlight. She could hear the soft sounds of the walkers in the distance, but kept her eyes set on the scenery. The silhouettes of the tall grass and flowers. She walked through them slowly, with her spear hanging relaxed at her side. It was the most peace she'd gotten since the prison office. For a moment she thought that maybe she could hide out here until the men leave and she could survive on her own, but then she rejected the thought._

 _Kendal knew that she couldn't survive on her own, she'd never had to. Since this whole thing started, Kendal had someone to help her and look out for her. She also remembered how each time she was abandoned and left for someone else to find. She was abandoned by her family when they died and she remembered her ex-fiancé, Blake, had left her in the street with a walker hanging off her ankles just before Daryl found her._

 _Daryl. He was the only person that ever found her and the only person she believes would find_ her _before she finds them._

 _She was deep in her own thoughts when she was tackled to the ground from behind. By the force, she knew that it wasn't a walker on her back or else she would have been bitten instantly. She rolled on her back the instant she felt a lift of pressure and swung her spear handle to knock off her attacker. She got to her feet and so did they. The moonlight shined down on them and she saw that it was a younger man, maybe in his early to late twenties, with a knife in his hands. She couldn't see his eyes, but by his position, he wasn't right in the head. He ran at her with his knife in the air and Kendal raised her staff and knocked him away again. She panted from the amount of energy it took to keep knocking him down, but he just kept getting up. "Stay down." She whispered to him, but he wasn't listening as he shouted as he charged at her again, knocking her back and pressing his knife into her right shoulder. He knocked her spear out of reach, leaving her pinned on the ground with his knife still in. The sound of their wrestling attracted a few walkers and they distracted the young man long enough for Kendal to knock him off of her again. In the next few seconds, she ripped out the knife from her shoulder and pierced his skull with it without a second thought._

 _She didn't realize what she had down until after it was all done and he wasn't moving anymore. Her heart was pounding and the growls and snarls of the walkers only got closer. Her adrenaline was still pumping as she took out more walkers with the knife in her hand, and picking up her spear and raced away. She did her best to dodge the branches and trees as she ran back to camp._

 _When she arrived back at the camp, all she saw was black. There was no color and the moonlight was covered by the clouds. Looking down at her hands, she saw black liquids. She knew the real color on her hands, but she only saw the thick blackness. No light, no color, just black. Just the darkness surrounded her as she rested against the tree and felt herself slip into her slumber._

Daryl, from the back, watched Kendal after Joe finished talking to him. _"Stay with this group."_ Joe had said to him. He must told Kendal that just before she was so-called Claimed. Daryl remembered Kendal's little outburst in the woods that morning and knew that she couldn't stay with these guys any longer.


	13. Chapter 13

They had stopped at a warehouse full of cars and the men were exploring around, claiming things, but left their bags unattended. Kendal stayed with the bags and looked down at them and got an idea. When she thought everyone was preoccupied, she reached into one of the bags and pulled out the head-half of the cottontail rabbit and put it into Daryl's bag. She could tell from the beginning that Joe liked Daryl, not just because of his crossbow, but he wanted to keep him around. She stepped back from the bags when Len came over to grab his bag to throw it into the back of pickup, telling Daryl that it was claimed. Daryl just walked over and laid down at Kendal's feet and made himself comfortable. The woman sat down next to him and ran her fingers through her tangled hair.

"Hey," Daryl caught her attention with a low voice, "You never told me about your little brother." Trying to make conversation wasn't his strong suit, but he wanted to keep his mind off of things and hopefully keep hers too. "Back at the prison, you said that you would tell me when I got back." Kendal nodded, her expression unchanged as she spoke.

"He died when this all started," She started to run her finger across the ground and drawing in the soot, "He got a fever for a week that just wouldn't go down. This was also before I knew that _everyone_ becomes one of them, even without getting bitten." She clarified looking at him for a slight moment before going to back to drawing lines beneath her. "I went out on a run to the pharmacy one last time, and when I got back," She paused to closer her eyes and breathe. She opened her eyes and spoke slowly and softly, "When I got back, I found him over my mother," She looked up at Daryl without tilting her head, "Eating her throat." She licked her lips and leaned back away from her writing on the ground. Daryl turned his head to see what she was staring at, and saw a name. _Derek_ _Hadley._ He looked up at her and could see her face start to twist in a miserable look, but she closed her eyes against and breathed slowly as if to control herself. "Derek did deserve that. No one does." She whipped the writing away and went back to drawing in the ground.

Daryl watched her hand move across the ground. "I used to have an older brother," He said rolling back flat against the ground, "He wasn't the best, but he was my brother." Kendal looked at his profile as he talked to the ceiling. She couldn't help but wonder why he was to talkative all of a sudden to her, but she liked it. It reminded her of home, and she felt comfortable with him. "He was an ass too." The soft giggles of the woman confused the shaggy haired man as he looked over at her covering her lips as her eyes smiled. "What?" He asked her with his usual grumpy face.

She shook her head. "Nothing." She pulled her hand away and bit on her lips to keep them from smiling. "It's just nice to get to you more about you." Her smile was one of the things that Daryl seemed to miss. He didn't realize it until now, but he liked it better when the woman smiled. He never thought that she'd gone a day without it back at the prison; she wasn't the same without it. However, her smile quickly faded to a stern frown when footsteps approached them.

"Give it here." Len demanded. Daryl warned him to step back, but Len didn't. "My half was in the bag. Now it's gone." He was accusing Daryl of taking his half. Kendal stood up and stepped back by the vehicle behind her to keep her distance from the scene. Daryl and Len kept shouting at each other when Joe stepped in and grabbed Daryl's trash bag. He dropped Len's half of the rabbit out of the bag and all eyes turned to Daryl.

"You put that there didn'ya?!" Daryl shoved on Len.

"You lied. You stole." The beared man countered back. "We gonna teach him Joe?" He stepped towards Daryl, but Joe got in the way.

"Daryl said that he didn't take it," Joe spoke calmly like always, "So we got a little conundrum here." He looked between Daryl and Len one last times. "Either Daryl is lying, which is an actionable offense, or," He looked Len in the eye after scoffing, "…you didn't planted it on him like some pussy, punk-ass, cheating, coward cop, did you?" He asked with a smile. "While that wouldn't be breaking the rules specifically breaking the rules, it's disappointing." Len still denied it. Kendal watched as Len was clocked in the face by Joe and he told his _gents_ to teach him a lesson. He looked straight at Kendal, his eyes accusing her as she walked away to step outside.

Daryl looked back at the woman exiting the warehouse as Joe walked up to him. "I saw him do it." He said to him, looking away from the exit Kendal left in.

"Why didn't you stop him?" Daryl asked. Joe told him that it was because he wanted it to play out to see him lie and that Daryl knew the rules. Joe looked at him in appreciation. The sound of beating echoed through the warehouse as Daryl put both halves of the rabbit in his bag then walked outside to find Kendal.

Kendal was holding herself and twisting around right outside of the door. She spotted Daryl with shaken eyes and just kept walking away. "Hey!" He called after her, grabbing her by the arm to face him. He yanked it away and pushed on him. "What the hell is your deal?" He asked her, irritated with her sudden change of attitude. She looked up at him and didn't answer, but just kept walking away. "Kendz!" He called after her, quickening his pace when she did. "Kendz! Kendal!... Goddammit…" He growled as he ran up the hill and tackled her to the ground. She started kicking and screaming as Daryl wrestled to get her hands pinned down. Even with her hands unable to move, she kep squirming underneath him. "Kendal, shut up…" He whispered down at her, putting her wrist in one of his hands and using the other one to cover her mouth and to keep her head from moving. He looked up at him with frightened eyes. When he saw that she was about to cry, he leaned forward closer to her face. "I'll let you go," He whispered, "if you keep your damn mouth shut." He growled as she nodded. Slowly releasing her and getting off of her, Daryl just sat next to her as she laid there trying to calm herself again. She closed her eyes and held her breath and exhaled to a pant. She finally sat up, keeping her eyes downward as she got her breath under control. "What the _hell_ was that?" He spat at her. Kendal flinched, keeping her shoulder by her ears and only slightly glanced at him. "Are you _scared_ of me?" She shook her head. "Then _speak_ woman."

"I-I put the head-half in your back." She admitted with her defenses up. "I-It was me." She said softly.

"What?" He vexed at her. "You could have gotten me-"

"-I know." She shook her head and held her arms. "I-I knew that Joe didn't like Len that much, and that he liked you better, so I just thought-"

"It could have been _me_ getting the shit kicked out of me." He pointed back to the warehouse. How could she have been so reckless?

"I get it okay! But you're not!" She shouted at him. She was still shaking, but Kendal felt that some pressure was being released off her back. She may not look like it, but this was the most relaxed she's been since she joined them. "He's getting what he deserves." She growled as she stood up.

As she got to her feet, Daryl noticed some marking around her wrist and grabbed to pull her down. He examined all the way around them as she tried to pull away. The markings looked as if she had been tied up. "Who did this?" He asked, tightening his grip around her thin wrist. "Was it _him_?" Kendal pulled her wrist from his grasp finally and pulled her sleeves down over her wrist. "Goddammit woman, _answer me_." He hissed.

"Just shut up." She growled, getting back up and walking back to the warehouse where she ran into Joe. He looked down at her and started walking forward. Kendal kept stepping back until she ran into the doorway.

He towered over her as he looked down at her. "I know what you did and I know why you did it," He said down to her, "and I'm going to allow it this one time." He spoke lowly to her, holding up one finger, "But if you lie or plant anything again, I'll know." Kendal didn't move until he walked away from her and she just sat down next to the door. When Daryl stepped in, he looked down at her with a grumble and kept walking to his things to take a nap. She pulled her legs up to her chest and closed her eyes too.

When they woke up again, it was time to leave the warehouse. Daryl walked in front of Kendal and he saw Len's body over the ledge by the walkway. "Good riddens." Kendal mumbled as she passed behind him. He looked back at her as she walked away, then back to the corpse. He picked up a piece of cloth and went to cover him, but stopped. He must've done something awful for Kendal to be so angry to want him dead, but did he deserve this? Conflicted, Daryl just threw the cloth away and followed after the group.

Daryl walked again with Joe, while Kendal kept to herself. "Things are falling together," Joe told him, "For guys like us, surviving." He looked up at the brunette woman and scoffed. "I could tell from the moment we found her that the woman never had to _survive_ until all of this." He waved the flask in his hands. "You can tell by how she keeps playing with her hair to make it stay down, and by the way she holds herself even now." He smiled at Daryl as if he knew what he was talking about. "She doesn't care about anybody else, other than herself." Joe finished as they reached the railroad. Daryl knew Kendal better than the older man to know that he didn't know her at all.

Kendal looked at the advertising board saying "Sanctuary for all…" and shook her head. She felt like it was a lie, just like Joe said, but she felt as if she had to check it out. _"The others might be heading there too."_ She kept telling herself as she followed in the middle of the group.


End file.
